Sri Lanka’s sacked prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was given until Sunday morning to leave the Temple Trees official residence following his shocking dismissal on Oct 26, 2018. (AFP pic)

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s sacked prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe resisted moves to evict him from his official residence, officials said Sunday, as his controversial successor sought blessings at a prominent temple ahead of naming a new cabinet.

The new ruling party had given Wickremesinghe till Sunday morning to leave the Temple Trees official residence following his shock dismissal on Friday that has plunged the Indian Ocean island into constitutional turmoil.

Officials said police will now seek a court order to evict Wickremesinghe, whose security and official cars were also withdrawn by President Maithripala Sirisena on Saturday.

Wickremesinghe had earlier insisted Sirisena’s dismissal of him was illegal and demanded an emergency session to prove he still commanded a majority.

Instead, Sirisena shut parliament for nearly three weeks to forestall any challenge against his appointment of former strongman Mahinda Rajapakse as the new prime minister….